Along with that, Riot Games added that the company had nothing more to add to the discussion.

Some Ars Technica reports did manage to talk to a number of streamers.

They also got hold of a lawyer to understand more about the legal side of the whole argument.

This was perhaps the best move.

Why?Because this would allow Ars Technica reporters and everyone else to look and then understand all sides of the streaming situation.

This would also allow them to capture a rather complete picture of some, if not all, of the existing school of thoughts that are surrounding issues related to streaming content of video games via online platforms.

Moreover, this also enables everyone to talk about what the industry needs to do in order to change the situation as it exists in the industry today.

Regardless of the discussion or other issues, video game streamers will continue to work and pump out new videos as fast as they can.

The same goes for developers of these games as well.

No one can really stop developers from developing more games and more quickly either.

Even then, there is a slight uncertainty about the future of video game streaming.

Defining Relationships in Terms of Advertising

Let’s take a look at Naka teleeli.

Teleeli is a YouTube video game streamer.

He posted his first video on YouTube way back in 2008.

Naka has also posted gameplay videos of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap.

And in one of those videos, Teleeli made quite an effort to informatively present the history of the game and the series.

Only after doing so did Teleeli went ahead with his epic narration of Wonder Boy The Dragon’s Trap’s into text.

Most of the time Teleeli makes videos using the “Let’s Play” format.

This is basically a format where a YouTube streamer would play a game as usual.

But in addition to that, the YouTube streamer would also provide the audience with a bit of audio commentary.

Most of Teleeli’s videos follow this format.

But his main focus is on playing retro titles.

Sometimes he also posts videos on indie titles as well.

At the time of writing this report, Teleeli had managed to amass around 40,000 YouTube subscribers.

When Ars Technica approached him for a comment on the streamer vs developer issue he said that he did understand the legal side of the argument.

He actually pointed out that he considered the whole issue to fall in a rather big grey area.

Taleeli added that both sides had several legitimate arguments.

Including that basically, all the content that streamers showed actually belonged to the original perform who made the game.

Some say that the streaming community has done something transformative.

Teleeli reiterated his feelings that he honestly tried to understand both sides of the issue.

Why?Because, according to Teleeli, developers made the content and hence own it as well.

At the same time, Teleeli told Ars Technica, he considered streaming as something transformative for the viewer.

How?

Well, one of the reasons why Teleeli sees streaming as a transformative experience is that viewers who are actually watching the videos aren’t’ exactly playing the video game per se.

There is little doubt about the fact that the literal imagery that viewers are consuming may actually be the same.

In other words, one the face of it, both watchers of the game and players of the game as experiencing the same imagery.

But as far as input experiences go, they are very different.

Teleeli admits the fact that the whole point of video games is that people should play them.

If someone removes that and then adds something of his/her own on top, then that is a transformative experience according to Teleeli.

Some streamers think games are made to be played. Not watched.

Teleeli says that streamers add their own commentary along with their own reactions and the way they progress through any given game.

They also react to any given situation within a game on their own.

And that reaction is unique to them.

Taleeli told Ars Technica that he thinks that is a very transformative experience if one really thinks about it hard.

Naka also believes, that one cannot consider watching a given Let’s Play video the same thing as someone else playing the actual video game.

Why?Because they aren’t even remotely similar.

Playing a game on your own is vastly different from watching someone else do it on a screen.

But that’s just Teleeli’s opinion.

He views the two experiences as fundamentally different.

And Teleeli’s knows it.

While talking to Ars Technica he pointed out that most of the content that he puts up and people see, still belongs to the developer.

And both participants, viewers and players, are fundamentally seeing the same thing.

Hence, he understands both sides of the situation.

He told Ars Technica that personally, he held the opinion that the community had to hit some kind of a middle ground.

More precisely, a legal middle ground.

That’s, according to Teleeli, would be the best solution to the problem at hand.

In short, Teleeli considers Let’s Play videos as transformative.

And legal.

He also considers them as something that is completely allowed.

With that said, even a streamer like Teleeli has his worries about some aspects of the streaming business.

Teleeli told Ars that if somebody had the time and the determination to put their mind to the task then they could easily get YouTube to take the channel down.

He also agrees to some extent that developers should have the authority over streamers.

And a legal right in order to control the gameplay footage of games that they own.

However, Teleeli does not seem to agree with how developers/platforms/viewers flag some content and why they do so.

Taleeli has also heard many stories about how people preferred to watch videos of certain games rather than buying and then playing the game personally.

But again, he doesn’t think that developers should count those people as lost sales.

Why?

Because people who made the choice of watching instead of playing probably would not have taken the pains to purchase the video game title in any case.

Interestingly enough, Teleeli also mentioned that he heard many people who told him that they had actually gone out and bought a particular video game just because they saw him play the game beforehand.

Therefore, if everybody saw that as a form of advertisement, then according to Teleeli it is a pretty nice deal for developers as well as streamers.

That’s why he mentioned to Ars Technica that he thought most open developers had actually started to work with streamers.

And they coordinated with them on how to make videos for their video game titles.

The more that happens, the better it would be for all parties involved.

Why?

Because, as mentioned before, Teleeli thinks streamers are actually people who are, in his opinion, working hard to advertise their games.

While talking on the subject of streamers, Teleeli thinks that content creators should work hard to be outgoing and friendly.

Additionally, they should also make sure that they keep a close control over streams that they have made with their products.

He also added that the biggest thing he wanted as a streamer was for things to stay the same.

Exactly how they are right now.

Along with that, he wants content creators and developers to simply cooperate more and show more forthcoming behavior.

Of course, there are other streamers who think that developers shouldn’t have much say in what a streamer says or what the streamer streams or the manner in which the streamer streams a content.

Instead, they believe that instead of developers stepping in when a streamer does something reprehensible, YouTube or the platform itself should come in.

And lay out the rules and regulations.

What Does The Law Say?

Just because streamers think they are on the right side of the law doesn’t mean they are.

Streamers have the right to have an idea about what they do and how they make their livelihood.

That bears no impact on what the law is.

Or if the law will automatically come to their aid if something does go wrong.

Many lawyers, law watchers and legal researchers have started to keep an eye on questions related to streamers.

And how they stream content.

As mentioned before, developers generally tend to stay away from talking about the subject.

Lawyers though, are different.

Ars Technica managed to speak with one lawyer who had information within this realm in order to another, and legal, view on an industry that is fast becoming too complex.

The founding partner of Morrison/Lee (a law firm), Ryan Morrison told Ars that there were presently several schools of legal thought from both sides.

Zohair is currently a content crafter at Security Gladiators and has been involved in the technology industry for more than a decade. He is an engineer by training and, naturally, likes to help people solve their tech related problems. When he is not writing, he can usually be found practicing his free-kicks in the ground beside his house.

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